Roundwound Vs Flatwound Strings - Which Are Better!
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- This week we're looking at the difference between Roundwound and Flatwound bass strings. We'll look at what they're made of, the pros and cons, how they sound and which are better for you.
#talkingbass #strings #bassguitar
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Am I the only one that actually likes the flatwound slap tone??
And I use both (round nickel and steel) mostly 45-100 but my flats are Chromes 40-95
You are not alone - I like the slapped Flat sound.... especially if you use Ernie Ball Colbalts - they are snappy!!!
like it too.. chromes as well
Are flat chromes bright ? Im interested in the dullest sound possible. Thanks in advance.
@@DanButcher303 Not specifically bright, I would say regular.
For dull maybe tapewounds are better, but I am not sure I never used them myself.
As for flats, the older they get the better they sound to me and also the duller.
Chromes can be a bit harsh the first hours/days (depending on how much you play, but not really nice sounding than), but after that they go through stage after stage of niceness while they are aging.
Mine current ones are 4 years old now, the previous set I used for 5 years (as I change them from bass to bass sometimes the end started to break, if you don't they can last for 20 and more years...)
In Stadium Arcadium Flea used his 67 J bass with flats. Slap bass is strong on that album.
I have usually played roundwounds. Whenever, I put flats on a bass, I think they are great too. Then I go back to the roundwounds, and immediately prefer the added sustain and brightness. Then back to the flats, and love that warm tone and smooth feel. Guess I am just fickle.
Why not have two basses strung with each?
@@richieluckenbill1590 Stop it. I've only been playing bass for 6 months & I already feel I need a second one
@@TheRip72 Lmao One more won't hurt 😜😂
@@richieluckenbill1590 Yeah and 5 years later you have 12 of them.
You’ll need another bass that you love. One with a set of roundwounds and another with flat wounds. That’s what I ended up doing.
When I first started playing bass I hated the ticking sound and twang from round wound strings. Some technique improvement helped but it never fully went away. Flatwounds feel like home to me. Hard to explain but flatwounds are much more comfortable and help me play better... or at least sound better. I'm putting flats on my 6 string bass soon.
I'm guessing you don't play much slap bass
He looks like he would lose his temper easily, scream, then apologize
I really thought the same man. I've saw another email of him before of this with 4 years of difference and for my surprise this is the new one. Wow man, what happened?
Maybe he just got out of jail.
Maybe this is the 13423527th take after getting his ****wounds mixed up again and again and again and again?
😂
I’m dead bro 😂😂
I think the trick is to have a couple of basses,..one with rounds and one with flats, if you can afford it. Great video Mark !!
every problem is solved with money
@@nerd7045 If problem can be solved with money then it's not a problem. It's investment.
I played roundwounds for 30 years and I got really tired of the strings ripping my fingers up, making them sore, grinding down my frets, and being hard to wipe clean after gigs.
Then I tried flatwounds and really loved the feel and the fact they were gentle on my frets and easy to wipe down. But I still missed the highest highs of roundwounds.
Then, one day I discovered Rotosound Jazz 77 strings. I got better highs from them than flatwounds, and they felt exactly like flatwounds. The perfect string!!
I also noticed I could gig constantly for two years, and they did not go dead in that time.
I've used them for 10 years+ and I still love them so much. I'm never going back to roundwounds.
I've tried many different types and always go back to the rotosound flat 77s
Try DR black Beauties strings
I like the consistency of flatwounds, and I love the way they feel. I use them on both of my basses and on my electric guitar
I'd recommend stringing a flatwound for the E for that smooth deep RnB-motown deep-dead moolah tone, then the A and D with tapewounds for the in-between tone it produces, and then the G with roundwound for that nice pop whenever you need the slap-pluck tone for funk. There you go...a complete bass for all genre and playing styles. Do it! DO it!
I'm gonna try this when I get paid
That’s actually an interesting idea. Thanks.
@@Beethoven8335 If this ain't the most relatable comment
Sounds nuts though 😂
Gotta know if anyone else tried this and how did it work out
If you tried flatwounds once - there is no way back ))
@Henri Boubli Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats are awesome !
@@Kl1Ainti Did the same thing. I've tried flats twice over the 30 years I've been playing. Maybe if I had a large collection of basses I would string one with flats but having only two, I still prefer rounds.
I have rounds, but I’ve been considering switching to flats since I borrowed a friends bass with them and they felt sooo nice
I do not think that ease of playing is a good reason to choose a string, Dear Locke, but, rather, the tonal picture it puts in the Listener's ear.
That said, flatwounds bring softer, dusty, dried, felten, opaque, mildewy, wooden and closetted shadowy , and or lichen on the tombstone, qualities to the sound, because the flattening of the winding destroys the high end harmonics, which produces a nasaley mid-range bias to imply that.
Roundwound strings, however, have the full range of frequency response, because of the completely circular shape of their windings.
No frequency bias in that, the sharp & wide sound vaults into the Listener's ear which alludes to a Gothick Cathedral, as well as highly polished luminescent textures, such as concrete, satin, velour, and water, and the implication of wide vast spaces.
A quick listen to the sound of John Entwistle's bass conveys that in a most illustrative way, just as a quick listen to Miss Carol Kaye playing the opening theme to the Wild Wild West Show can depict the virtues of the flatwound string at it's best.
Personally, I think the right way to go is to have a bass with round and another with flats - to choose which fits the song best.
Bee Sheerhan no, I agree, sound is the most important and I plan to have flats on one and rounds on the other as soon as I get another bass. Since I play a lot of jazz flats would work for me with the nice round tone, but I chose to stick to rounds for the sake of being able to pull out that punchyness when I need it. Thanks for your advice and time though!
@@@ethanlocke3604 You're welcome, Kind Sir. Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I like the way you are thinking. Yes, if I only had one bass in action, rounds it would have to be. Be well!
Bea Sheerhan you, sir, have won the internet today gentlesir!
@@beasheerhan4482 Right tombstone and kill the hig ringtone, just my kind of thing.
Wow! Perfect!
This video thoroughly explained the differences of both.
No bs filler, just pure substance.
What a great bass teacher
Thanks for being so generous Mr Mark
I'm a flat guy. I use LaBella Deep Talkin' Bass Mediums!
Mark is such a great teacher!! Knows his stuff inside out! Love his videos
I play with roundwound and flatwound on diferent bass guitars. Depends on the sound I want.
same me, raoundwound are more agresive and some times you need that tone, but flat are just fantastic if i can use them in a band i just use it
Rob Keus i agree i dont ever use flatwound but im about to buy one set of flatwound and 2 set of ernie and rotosound strings on my p bass
I use round but played a friend's bass with Flatwoods and it felt amazing so easy
I've switched to DR roundwounds recently and when it comes to slap&pop, it pays off more than I bargain for. I'd also preferred flatwounds and halfwounds in the past but once I got my hands on flatwounds in particular, they were way too stiff, tight and hard to get used to. I also tried Steve Harris signature set on my bass, and I appreciated him a lot as to how he survives through fast passages of a track by galloping. 😮
It's weird how these tendencies change overtime. When I bought my first Fender P-Bass in 1970's, it brought flats from factory, needless to say, I quickly changed them to Rotosound Rounds; on the contrary, this year I bought a Fender Jazz Bass, and it came with Fender Rounds; with that said, I see a tendency today (08-2020) on players going back to flats. I use Elixir Rounds Coated (nanoweb) and Pirastro Eva Pirazzi Flats on my upright acoustic bass. I've also noticed a tendency on electric bass players to get a darker, warmer sound these days, almost like they want to sound like a real bass. So use whatever string, but play the right notes! And don't use the bridge pick-up alone:-)
"almost like they want to sound like a real bass." lmaoo
Just tried flatwound standard gauge, i love them so much. The tone the feel everything.
Lmao they sound like different types of worms. Roundworms, tapeworms, flatworm
😃
Ah yes, let me just play my bass with dirtwounds, gives it that nice earthy tone
Haha I thought the same
System had something to say about tapeworms…
You know what though, this may be the best video like this on RUclips
I'm drawn to Flats. D'Addario Chromes or Ernie Ball Slinky Flats. Both medium gauge.
D'addario flats are my favorite of every string I've tried and I've tried lots of strings.
OKAY be honest were you looking at my search history today!? Impeccable timing!
Flats or round wounds which is best? Depends on the song. The best overall? Short answer, flats. Best flats, Thomastik, they are also the most expensive, however well worth it. Also something that should be addressed is that flats usually create more tension on the neck, not a good thing. Thomastik have the least tension of the flats, another reason to get them.
I found Rotosound does a nice job with tension as well, but Fender's 50s, Ernieballs is awful for string tension.
80 bucks!!! Ouch!!
Flatwounds!! I love them. :) Love the tone
Humbucker pickup for the win!
I use OLD roundwounds, a good middle-ground. A slightly duller tone like flats, but you still get bite like rounds. I've had the same strings on my 5-String Jazz for four years and I love the sound and feel.
My go to is Fender stainless steel flat wounds I love them on all my bass! Except for my Steve Harris precision bass, I have a signature strings on that one
You are one of, if not the best, at a concise explanation of the subject matter. Now I know why I prefer flatwounds.
I played rounds for about 30 years and just changed to flats a few months ago. My playing style has changed considerably and I think has improved dramatically. When playing flats i feel much more creative as a bassist.
Imagine going for fretless.
Here are a few more important differences which he didn't mention. Flatwounds on a longscale bass,, don't stretch as easily, therefore it requires more string tension to achieve the same tuning as roundwounds. More tension on less flexible strings, means that flatwounds will be stiffer and harder to depress. The greater tension will cause the neck to curve more, which means that your action might be higher and you might have to relieve your truss rod and readjust your set up.
Higher action and stiffer strings will feel like weightlifting for you fingers. Flatwounds on a longscale bass also makes string bending much more difficult. If you switch to flatwounds, I highly recommend doing some research on how to perform a proper setup on your bass.
On a shortscale bass, the greater tension of stiffer flatwound strings is actually a big advantage. Players who are new to shortscale basses often complain about the sloppy, rubber bandy feeling of the strings and consequently, some added string buzz. On shortscale basses with roundwounds, string bends re very easy, but string buzz can sometimesbe a problem.
However, flatwound strings on a shortscale bass are a match made in heaven. The higher tension removes that sloppy rubber body feel, while still offering easier bends than roundwounds on a long scale bass. I would never even consider roundwounds on a shortscale bass. I imagine that the only reason, shortscale basses are even sold with roundwounds is to save money. The first thing that I did to my Mustang bass was switch to flatwound D'darrio Chromes.
correction. higher action do to increase string tension means you have to add tension to the truss rod, not relieve it...
That was a great explanation of the 2 types of bass strings. Thank you. I have used flat wound strings and I use to use something called black tubes that had a covering over the strings. I like a melo sound to my bass.
Awesome, thank you for this. I’m new bass player, so just learning all this.
I personally like rounds but my fingers don’t lmao 😂
Lol, made the switch to flats day before I was playing my 3rd gig. Had some blood pressure issues when I found my fingers sliding around on the smooth strings. Thought I made a big mistake until I heard the sound.
Great video Mark! I use flats on my P bass and rounds on my Jazz bass. I get to best of both worlds!
Great video Mark. I think it's one of the best video for comparing rounds vs flats. It probably would have been nice to have some tapes in there aswell.
i have flatwound black taped for years now. i love them fantastic tone, lots of life and sparkel
my first bass , the hofner ignition , came with roundwound strings . being new to bass , with some research i found that flatwounds are best due to the hollow body construction and would bring out the deep warm tone that hofners are famous for .
Flatwounds 45-105
Is this what he is using?
Its what I use, I only play in a church worship band, they seem to fit that space well.
@@andrewneufeld3097 oh I understand, thank you! Not too stiffy? You have to press down harder right?
I planning to buy D'ADDARIO Chromes 45-100 ECB81 btw
I had more issues adjusting to the smoother strings, overshooting slides and such. That did not last long. I was a roofer for a lot of years so I have strong hands so I might not have noticed if they are stiffer.
Thanks for all your videos. I use Flat wound on my Fender Bass VI. I have rounds on my Jazz Bass, but am going to convert them to flats. For me, I find the rounds are more comfortable, so I can play along with more of your videos.
This is an excellent educational video for folks who don't know a thing about bass strings.
I've only had my bass 2 weeks. The bass came with D’Addario EXL 165 roundwound.
Not the biggest wiz on what are the best strings to use, so I salute ye for this video! Appreciate the work always!
That was a very helpful overview. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the video explanation, the differences and examples of who has used them. I like to buy flats for worship in future for warmer tones since it doesn’t require slap but maybe in future I’ll buy a second bass for slap with rounds. But they both sound well to my ears for slap but I understand in some mixes the rounds would help stand out more.
Ernie Ball Cobalt 5-string flatwound.
Edit: I love the cobalt flats because they’re significantly brighter than the steel flats.
Thats cause the magnetizm want full bright go for full nickel
I use these as well...gives me the feel of the flats, but I can crank the pickups up and get the brightness of the rounds....only strings i will buy from now on
I really like the sound and feel of flats, but then I really miss the growl I can get from round wounds, which for rock, is pretty important.
100%
Very informative video! I'm new to the bass (played guitar for 35 years). This video helped me make a decision on whether I wanted round or flat on mine! I'm sticking with the evil roundwounds!
awesome breakdown, love it
I only ever had one set of flats. Technique and the tone knob can make rounds sound like flats but not vice-versa. I have Pro Steels on my Aria (active lefty-PJ) and Swings on my Kimbara (passive JJ).
round slap 3:48
flat slap 4:59
Luigi Zanini Extremely helpful comment. Thanks!
He actually had a good slap sound even with the flats. With the right eqing maybe even better. I was a flat user before and may switch back. Very full tone and easy to cut through in the mix.
Hey there great videos, thank you! There is another option, half rounds. They have some of the characteristics of both. I've been using them for years and depending on how I EQ my gear I can chameleon the sound to what ever it needs to be mostly. Please keep making videos these are very helpful!
As a bassist of almost 50 years I have a couple of thoughts.
I was first taught by my mother who was a touring bassist in the 60’s & 70’s and she played an old Vox Apollo with black tape wounds.
Consequently I think I was 16 before I knew what a round was!
I’ve played rounds mostly for a few decades, until I started playing fretless and it reignited my love of flats.
Downside of flats to me are the cost, but I really like heavy Fender flats.
I do intend to jump back into some tape wounds, but they are spendy.
Love me some FLATS!!!✌🏻
Cobalt flats 45 - 105 Brighter than normal flats. Made by Ernie Ball.
Personally I love playing slap on flatwounds. Has a more old school, upright bass sound like the bassists in old rockabilly bands got. To each their own tho.
Thanks for the info. Peace Mate. All right outro got me sub !
I am a huge fan of both! Different situations call for different sounds ;)
GHS Pressurewounds are my absolute favorite round wounds - and in all honesty they are semi- flats... making them one unique string!!!
Ernie Ball Colbalt Flat Wounds are some of my favorite flat wounds...
Thomastik infeld-jazz flats. My favorite strings by far. They have great mids and they're very expressive. Tone is a little more chill than nickel-half round
Jupiter these strings changed my life
If they could capture that sound with higher tension, I'd literally never buy another set of strings. I was told by someone at Thomastik though that the tension was inextricably tied to the sound - which is a real bummer, because I can't deal with strings that feel like rubber bands - unless I'm doing reeeeally mellow studio work.
allrequiredfields they sound and feel fine above the 10 fret but below that it gets a bit mushy.
I have some on my new G&L JB but I’m considering putting on some La Bella’s
Ernie Ball's Elixirs, Round. Been using them all my bass life
I started using Ernie Ball Cobalt flats on my my basses a couple years ago, best choice I ever made. I use em for any genre of music. They're surprisingly bright and they last forever.
I switched to flats about 10 years ago and I'll never go back. I play DR flatwound Hi Beams. Love love love them.
I'm a beginner, I have roundwounds since that is what came with the bass. I want flatwounds because the pickups are really noisy when I turn on the tone knob. So I just wanna embrace the tone being rolled off tbh.
Change the pickup. Pickups are cheap right now.
Fender medium-gauge flats on my MIM Fender Jazz.
I'm currently in the market for some new bass strings and I've gotta say, this video has DEFINITELY helped me navigate my selection! I've never used flatwound before and I feel they may benefit my fingers and frets more. I typically play rock, jazzy tones, and various metal genres. Usually I purchase DRs (my immediate go tos) or D'Addario strings. I typically get 45 - 125 g strings. Thank you for making this video. Definitely helped me make some decisions on my next potential order. 🙏🏼
Started playing round wounds, but after a total makeover I put some flatwounds on it. Never go back. They are so nice and silky. I love the sound and the feel !
I started off with flat wounds, because those were the strings my dad’s bass had. After getting my own bass last year, I decided to get round wounds to see what they’re like. I like both strings and which ones I play depends on the type of music I’m playing at the time.
Most basses come with roundwounds on them. Im old school so I want the mellower sound. That being the case I would rather have flat wound.
I'm with you Paul. Warm is my style. It's not so in-your-face obnoxious.
Mostly rounds for me. I really like the "piano" sort of overtones and the metallic clank when I play hard, and I'm into a lot of rock and metal so it works well. Even on fretless I like the brighter sound, it really doesn't wear the board that much. There are scratches on the fingerboard. but not really visible unless you're looking. It'll be a looong time before it needs to be sanded.
I have a 5 string with Ernie ball Cobalt flats though, great B string and just fun overall. I mostly reach for that bass for an old school sound. Hip hop, fingerstyle funk, older rock, they do that well. They have versatility though, it's all about how you attack them.
excellent ep! TYVM. I have round. I'm planning on building a headless bass with flats.
GHS Pressure Wounds - The brightness of rounds, the smooth feel of flats.
Couldn’t agree more - been using them for quite some time!!!
GHS Pressure Wounds...it's very sticky
A bass guitar without flatwounds sounds like a baritone guitar I love daddario chromes ecb84 set and they get better as they age
I use typical round wounds on my fretted bass and Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flat Wound strings on my fretless. The Thomastiks were designed to be a little brighter, and I love the tone on the fretless. I'd note, too, that on a fretless bass, round strings will really chew up your fingerboard, so the flats have a huge pro (or the rounds a huge con) for fretless basses.
Very descriptive and informative video. Thanks very much.
I am trying to go for the Beatles type tone. Should I swap my roundwounds for flatwounds.
Use flatwounds. It gives an upright bass tone which is what Macca’s hoffner bass sounds like it.
@@slappadabassmon8629 ok I coincidentally bought flatwounds today at Guitar Center. Thanks for the advice though!
@@gabeabraham9285 haha so did I! Lets start a band bro. This a sign. God is bringing us together to start a band. We are going to bring back great music
@@slappadabassmon8629 Ha! I don’t know about you but I’m in TN!
@@gabeabraham9285 im in PA lol
I use round wound. Ernie Ball is my preferred brand.
Why do you prefer Ernie Ball, Dear Daryl?
@@beasheerhan4482 they seem to last a lot longer than other brands, have more crisp tone than other brands, and stand up to the torture that I put strings through.
@@@darylbriggs2040 Thank you for your time and perspective, Kind Sir!
@@beasheerhan4482 I also use rounds and prefer Ernie Ball, I like that the E string has a deep and strong low end sound to it, while some brands it seems that the E low end is dead. D'addario has terrible low end sound to it.
@@ViBoMe Thank you very much, Dear Vitor!
Fantastic video!! Thank you.
Greetings from Uganda 🇺🇬👊🏿❤️
Both!! I have flats on my fretless and round wounds on 4 and 6 strings.
Calling it now. It all depends on the style of music you are playing.
I listen to heavy metal what strings should I use?
@@Pro1938ftc3ch roundwound
@@Pro1938ftc3ch but for just listening to heavy metal, why would you need strings? ;)
@@LordSesshomaru584 so I need no strings to play heavy metal ok
In fact not really, you can play whatever you want with whatever you have, it can gives interestings combinations
This video just wound me up! (See what I did there! - I'll get my coat!)
That's pretty cool. I don't know how to slap, but I love the sound of the flatwound strings when playing regular. I'll probably put them on my PJ bass.
To the point and informative. Thank you.
Steve harris uses flatwound... End of discussion
It's like he just broke up with his girlfriend, his kid has just broken his brand new coffee machine and there's a traffic official ticketing his car outside, but he's got to finish the video.
Great review. Thanks.
D'Addario round wounds , they last long time.
Mine usually didn't. And by long I mean several months. You know. I am cheap. I only spend 150€ per year on new strings.
@@DarkShaman667 I tried Ernie Ball strings one time and they wore out really fast , they where strange the strings would stick to my fingers like a magnet.
@@markbass354 The Ernie Ball Cobalds are nice, I had a set. But I guess everyone has a different taste, feel and style.
@@DarkShaman667 I wanna try the strings Billy Sheehan uses I forgot what they where called
@@markbass354 Maybe it's mentioned somewhere on the internet. There are several gear, string or bass sites.
Carol Kaye instructs anyone who asks her to use Flatwound and she used it on every record she recorded on from the 60's until now. She is arguably one of the the most recorded Rock/Pop/Jazz/Funk/Disco Bass player ever. I hope that helps anyone trying to decide.
After evolving over the years from nylon to flat wound to round wound, I settled on round wound due to their bright, punchy, articulate sound. I put DR Bootzillas 45-105 on my Stuart Spector NS-4 and DR HI-Beams 40-100 on my Fodera Monarch.
Well explained thank you !
Great example! Now I need to practice more!
I've been using the same set of flatwounds for a couple of years now.
Easy to clean and easy on the fingers. Cheaper on the long run
Great no nonsense straight to point and informative. Might've liked to see this extended to tspewonds but I'm guessing not a lot of difference with flats
I use roundwounds on my Fender Active Precision bass for the sound, and flatwounds on my Ibanez Portamento fretless bass to not damage the fingerboard. They both sound great for what they do!
Most Excellent. Thank you!!!
I have got into using light gauge roundwound Rotosound strings, 35 - 55 - 70 - 90 initially I starting using them on my acoustic but I am going to get them for my next electric string set as well. Although he didn't influence my choice initially, it way simply experimenting with getting a better sound, I read that Cluff Burton used lighter gauge strings and I don't feel it made him sound at all light weight.
My used fretless bass came with new La Bella flatwound strings. I love how they feel!
Hey! I really enjoy your videos. Your bass playing is amazing. I've been using round wounds on my Jazz Bass for a long time. I just recently switched to Labella flat wounds. What are your go to strings for a Jazz Bass?
Thanks for this video. Useful!
I use round wounds but i'm interested of flats too on my p-bass
I have tapewound D'Addario medium 50-105 presently and love the deep bass tone.
i have it too!!! i love them! and they are better than flats for slap (but not better than round of course)...i think that tapewound strings are too much underrated!
An excellent video. Very informative!
I put LaBella stainless steel flatwounds on my Fender P Bass, after playing roundwounds for about 10 years. I will never go back to roundwounds again. The feel and tone of the flats, is amazing. I wish I had switched 10 years ago.
Great explanation!